Q&A: James Avery, Founder & CEO, Kevel
James Avery is the founder and CEO of Kevel. Prior to Kevel, he co-founded TekPub, a platform that delivered high-quality screencasts for developers. Over the past 20 years, James has built multiple startups, written code across tech stacks, and authored books for O’Reilly, Wrox, and Microsoft Press. He is also an investor and advisor to multiple startups and serves on the board of MuukTest.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Sure thing. I’m a software engineer at heart — I started out writing code, but I’ve always had this drive to find ways to do things better – which naturally led me into starting companies. I founded Kevel back in 2010 (we were called Adzerk back then), mostly because I was frustrated with how limited ad tech was for anyone who wasn’t a tech giant. I figured there had to be a better way. And as retail started shifting online, especially during COVID, it became super clear: if smaller retailers wanted to compete with the Amazons of the world, they needed better tools. That’s what we’ve been focused on building ever since.
What does your company do? / What is your USP?
We help retailers build their own ad platforms — retail media networks (RMNs) — using tech that’s just as powerful as what the big players have. The difference is, we don’t believe in one-size-fits-all. We built Kevel to be flexible and customizable so retailers can create something that fits their brand, their values, and their goals.
Our platform is API-first, which means it’s super easy to plug into whatever systems a retailer already has. And we support everything from data privacy and performance to unique ad formats and workflows. Whether you’re a massive marketplace or just starting to test the waters, we’ve got tools that can grow with you.
What’s special about the platform and your approach?
Flexibility. Retailers can use our APIs to build exactly what they need — or, if they’re just getting started, they can use our out-of-the-box UIs to launch something quickly and scale from there.
We’re not just helping you spin up ads. We’re helping you launch an entire retail media business that can compete with the big guys. That means giving you full control over ad formats, access to your own first-party data, customized reporting… the works.
What advantage does it add?
There are a myriad of advantages for a retailer looking to build and launch their own RMN. Firstly, it puts them in control of their business. The flexibility of our tech plus APIs are what sets us apart. We give retailers the ability to customise and innovate in a very crowded space. While other solutions on the market extract a very high margin for offering simplicity, building with us is more cost effective and flexible, and means we can adapt as you scale and you can grow with us long term.
Secondly, a retailers’ business is uniquely defined by their first-party data (1P data) – shopping, loyalty and site. Giving this to outsourced vendors represents a risk, limits the ability to customise and work with advertisers in a close partnership. With Kevel’s level of flexibility and customisation, retailers can take their RMN to a fully mature state, meaning custom ad formats, custom reporting and tailored front ends and advertiser connections. This just isn’t possible when juggling outsourced vendor solutions.
What does a product/service implementation actually look like and how do you measure success?
Implementation can be different across customers, but typically we’ll have advertisers using our audience building capability to make custom segments on their 1P data. We will also have retailers using our Ad Server to build native, IAB standard, product listing & video ads to create inventory. Here we give them tools to manage volume and yield so they can monitor performance. Our Ad Server comes with a variety of campaign management tools – a UI for internal ad ops teams, a UI for advertisers, but perhaps most interestingly for larger companies, APIs to build out customised UIs. We also ensure that our customers have full access to all data to measure campaign success and inform future strategies.
Success isn’t just about revenue (though that’s obviously important). We look at whether we’re actually helping our customers build something sustainable — something they can control and grow long-term. If we’re doing that, we’re doing our job.
How are retailers using your systems to gain competitive advantage and what does best practice look like? Can you share a case study with us?
Yeah, absolutely. The best-performing retailers are the ones really leaning into customization. Take Chewy, for example — they’re building custom reports for their advertisers that go beyond the basics, like showing LTV ROAS. That kind of insight is super valuable for brands, and it’s only possible when you own your platform.
Are there other companies you partner with?
We believe in a much more open online ecosystem. To that extent, we partner with like-minded companies such as Skai and Pacvue to provide choice for retailers whether that be through paid optimization or accessing demand sources, as well as with other important market players such as Advendio, Placements.io, and Stackadapt that allow retailers to optimize workflow and revenue automation and streamline end-to-end operations.
What challenges and opportunities do you see in UK retail for 2024 / What challenges are retailers facing in 2025?
The UK and European markets are actually super exciting right now. We see two main types of retailers: those who are just getting into retail media, and those who’ve been outsourcing it but are ready to take control.
The latter, more mature retailers are rethinking some of their legacy choices that have forced them into a standard buyer / vendor relationship. They have previously been held back from commanding premium CPMs, but now we are seeing that these retailers have established business models and are ready to launch their own network that will take them from an outsourced commodity retail media network to building something that really stands out.
How will you address these challenges and turn them into successes?
At Kevel, we want to be the one company that retailers need to work with to launch something that can really rival the likes of Amazon and Wal-Mart. We provide the tools for retailers to build world-class retail media networks, whether they’re at the start of the retail media journey or looking to advance their maturity model, we have a complete, full-stack solution to address all of their challenges and painpoints at each stage.
What is on the horizon for you as a company?
We’ve got a big year ahead. We’re making it even easier to manage onsite, offsite, and in-store retail media all in one place. UIs are getting more powerful (and simpler), and our APIs are becoming even more robust so you can optimize deeper. And with our acquisition of Nexta, we’re now offering seamless on- and off-site integrations that really bring it all together. We want Kevel to be the go-to platform for retailers looking to compete at the highest level.
Any final thoughts?
2025 is shaping up to be the year retail media really hits its stride. We’re seeing more retailers take ownership, lean into self-serve, go omnichannel, and start using AI to drive smarter outcomes. That shift is leveling the playing field — and we’re here for it.
With our acquisition of Nexta, we’re doubling down on helping retailers manage all of their retail media — onsite, offsite, and in-store — in one place. Whether you’re just starting or scaling up, you need a platform that is flexible, powerful, and built for the future of retail media. We’re not just trying to keep up with Amazon and Walmart, we want to give retailers the tools to build something even better, on their own terms.
To find out how Kevel can help your retail operation, visit them online here or connect with them here.
